The present invention relates to apparatus for transferring cigarettes, filter rod sections or similar rod-shaped articles which constitute or form part of smokers' products between a first station where the articles advance axially at a first speed and a second station where the articles advance sideways (at right angles to their axes) at a different second speed. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in transfer apparatus of the type wherein a planetary transmission is or can be utilized to cause suction-operated or otherwise actuated receiving means for rod-shaped articles to advance along an endless path a first portion of which is adjacent to the first station and a second portion of which is adjacent to the second station. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus wherein the planetary transmission comprises a rotary carrier for a set of planet pinions each of which transmits torque to a discrete crank arm and each crank arm supports a discrete receiving means. The planet pinions are rotated by a sun gear when the carrier is set in rotary motion. As a rule, apparatus of the above outlined character are further provided with means for preventing changes in orientation of the receiving means, at least during certain stages of travel of receiving means along their endless path. This should ensure that each receiving means invariably accepts one or more articles upon arrival at one of the stations and invariably delivers articles in optimum orientation to a conveyor or the like at the other of the two stations.
Transfer apparatus of the above outlined character are often installed between a producing machine (e.g., a cigarette maker) and a processing machine, such as a filter tipping machine. Reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 3,303,926 granted Feb. 14, 1967 to Ernest E. Pohl, U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,011 granted Mar. 2, 1971 to Jesse R. Pinkham, German Utility Model No. 1,972,850 and commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,947 granted Oct. 4, 1977 to Peter Schumacher et al. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. The receiving means which are utilized in the patented apparatus normally serve to transfer rod-shaped articles from a first station where the articles move axially to a second station where the articles move sideways, i.e., to convert a file of coaxial articles into a row of parallel articles. Such mode of transferring entails a substantial reduction in the speed of movement of articles. The receiving means travel along epicycloidal or elliptical paths and the apparatus comprise two planetaries for each and every receiving means, namely, a first planetary which causes the respective receiving means to travel along an epicycloidal or elliptical path and a second planetary which ensures that the orientation of receiving means remains unchanged, at least during certain stages of movement along the epicycloidal or elliptical path. The number of gears and pinions is very substantial; this contributes to the bulk and cost of the apparatus and necessitates frequent repairs and/or replacements because the gears are subjected to extensive wear, especially when the apparatus is to transfer rod-shaped articles between a mass-producing machine and a machine which can process many thousands of articles per minute. The maxiumum output of a modern cigarette maker is in excess of 100 cigarettes per second. Moreover, the numerous gears generate a substantial amount of noise which affects the efficiency and well being of attendants. It has been found that even a new planetary is likely to permit the receiving means to move with a certain amount of play so that the orientation of receiving means which are controlled by planetaries is not satisfactory, especially when the articles must be transferred at extremely short intervals.
The apparatus which is disclosed in the aforementioned commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,947 constitutes a substantial improvement over the earlier apparatus because the number of gears which are utilized therein is relatively low; nevertheless, the apparatus of Schumacher et al. still employs two planetaries for each and every receiving means.